Ada's Song
by tigersmeleth
Summary: Legolas' son remembers a very special song and his father.


SUMMARY: Legolas' son remembers a song his father sang to comfort him.  
  
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, it all belongs to Tolkien. The song "You Are My Sunshine" belongs to Jimmy Davis and Charles Mitchell, but I've only used the chorus part of their lovely song. However, Legolas' son is my own creation.  
  
A/N/: It is unknown as to whether Legolas actually had a family or not during his life on Arda and after, so for the purposes of this story, he does. This small vignette can be seen as the sequel to two different storylines, "Golden Light", and the "A Night With Ada" series, however, it can also be a stand alone.  
  
Ada's Song  
By Tiger  
  
The golden haired elf sat in his chair and looked around at the two elflings that sat at his feet and smiled. It was a quiet evening in Valinor, and his children wanted a story. He had come home from a hard day's work, and it warmed his heart to see his children eagerly waiting for him. "Tell us a story, Ada!" They cried as they sat down at his feet. He smiled and could not say no to them.  
  
"Yes, a story," he said, going along with their play. "What story would you like me to tell you tonight?"  
  
"A new one!" his son said.  
  
"A new one with a song!" his daughter exclaimed.  
  
"Very well then," he chuckled. "But the two of you must promise me that you will sleep when the story is over, do we have a promise?"  
  
"Ai, Ada, we promise!" they solemnly said together. He took a moment to gather his thoughts, to think of a story to tell them. They had heard much about his life after majority, those stories fascinated them the most, for life in Ithillien on Arda was much different from life in Valinor. His wife had sailed when she was pregnant with them, so they never knew life on Arda.  
  
"Would you like to hear a story about my own, Ada?" he asked him. They nodded. So he began.  
  
"I remember that when I was but an elfling, every time there was a storm or every time I needed to be happy, I would run to my Ada's room. I've done that so many times to him that all of the memories begin to blur together. But I will always remember the first time I did it, how can I forget? With that first time, I saw a side of my father that almost nobody else saw.  
  
We were living in Ithillien then. I had my own room, spacious, and comfortable, but always missing something. I had fun, playing with my toys with Nana, practicing with the bow and arrow with Faramir, bantering with Uncle Gimli, or playing with one of the hobbits that frequently visited us. I was never alone, and yet I felt alone. There was one person whom I sought to have the most company with, and yet I could never find him. My father is Legolas, as you know, the Prince of Ithillien and Mirkwood, King Elessar's greatest friend. I should know, for your grandadar gave me Elessar's elven name, Estel. I rarely saw him, for his duties kept him very busy, whether he was in Gondor, or in Ithillien. I missed him greatly, for when I felt as if the world would crash down upon me, I would run into his from, and curl myself up in his chair. I understood that he had duties that wouldn't allow him to be there for me all the time, but there were times when I just wished that he would be home when I felt lonely or sad. But there was the chair that he always sat in, big and comfortable, with his scent still on it, so that if I closed my eyes and imagined very hard that he was with me, I could feel his arms around me and his voice singing a soft song into my ear.  
  
Then, there was this one night, when he actually came home early, and found me dozing off in his chair. I was very young, perhaps only four or five. It had been one of those days in my young life when nothing seemed to go right. My arrows refused to find the target, Uncle Gimli was in Moria on business, and I was bored and lonely with nothing to do. All I wanted was for Ada to be there, to talk to me, to sing to me, to simply be with me. He wasn't there. I can still feel the ache in my heart, the knife that twisted when we were separated.  
  
I felt strong arms surround me and lift me, I heard a soothing voice in my ear. 'Ion nin,' the voice said, 'wake up, I am home.' I very much wanted to open my eyes, reach out my hand and touch his face, memorizing the familiar lines, but I closed my eyes even tighter, afraid that if I opened them, those strong arms and the voice would vanish like a dream.  
  
'Can't, I softly whispered. 'You're a dream, if I wake up, you'll go away.' I felt the strong arms hold me tighter, and a soft chuckle in my ear.  
  
'I'm not a dream, I'll be there when you wake up, I promise, the voice said. So I opened my eyes and stared straight into the happy blue eyes of my Ada. I squealed in happiness, he was there, he was really there; he wasn't a dream!  
  
'Ada!' I happily yelled, throwing my arms around him and hugging him tight.  
  
'Estel, I am sorry that I came so late, had I known that you were here waiting for me, I would have come home much sooner,' he said apologetically, placing a gentle kiss on my brow.  
  
'Tis okay, you're home now,' I said, shaking the lingering sleepiness off. There was no way that I would fall asleep now, not when he was finally home.  
  
'Do you always wait for me to come home?' Ada asked me. I squirmed a little before answering.  
  
'Yes,' I answered in a small voice. 'You're never home during the day.' I heard him give a dejected sigh.  
  
'Perhaps I should work less, and be with you more. Tis not fair that the rest of Ithillien should have all my time when you need it more,' he said. I couldn't really understand all of what he said, but my heart leaped at his answer. He was going to be home more now? I could have him all to myself?  
  
'Really, Ada?' I asked hopefully. He smiled down at me, the flames from the fire flickering on his face.  
  
'Really,' he said. He looked around his room, looking for something, he stopped at his bookshelf and took out an old, leather journal. I recognized it, I had seen him write in it many nights. I would peek through the crack in his door and just stand there, watching him write. I wanted to go to him every time, to sit in his lap and see what he was writing, and maybe, he would hold my hand and let me write in it too. He set the journal down on his desk, and sat in it, still holding me.  
  
'My father and I used to write in a journal together when I was young,' Ada began, his voice grew wistful as memories of his father came back. I didn't know much about Thranduil except that he was once the King of Mirkwood, and had sailed a few years before I was born. 'I was little, and I missed him dearly, I spent more time with my nursemaid then him because he was so busy. I rarely saw him as my father, he was always the king.' I nodded my understanding. That was how I saw my Ada too. 'So, one night, he caught me looking at him through his study door, and pulled me into his lap and let me write with him.' He looked pointedly at me with the last sentence. I opened my eyes wide. I began to wonder...did he know that I watched him through his door?  
  
'Would you like to write something with me, ion nin?' he asked me. Joy coursed through my veins. Would I? Would I like to write something with him? Of course I would! I grinned and I eagerly nodded. I held out my hand, and he laughed. Not knowing what was so humorous about the situation, I of course laughed as well. He put the quill in my hand and closed my fingers around it. I had never really written before. I only doodled letters in the dirt or drew sloppy pictures for my Ada.  
  
Slowly, we began to write. Since I only began to read, he had to read to me what we were writing. But I didn't mind. I loved to hear his voice, soothing and melodic. But I loved the story we were writing, it was the one about went he went on the quest to destroy the evil ring. He said that some parts were too scary for me to listen to, I was not old enough yet to understand everything, but we weren't writing any of the scary stories down. We wrote my favorite story of how Ada and Uncle Gimli became friends. It was a long story, but I didn't mind, I loved sitting with Ada. But by the end, I grew sleepy again, and I yawned. I tried to stifle it, but Ada heard it anyways.  
  
'Bedtime, Estel,' he ordered me, though not sternly.  
  
'Five more minutes, Ada, please?' I pleaded with him. I didn't want to sleep, not now, not when he was with me. I heard him sigh, and I knew that he was wavering. I was right, almost right.  
  
'What if I sang a song to you?' he asked. 'Will you go to sleep at the end of the song?'"  
  
Estel stopped his story as he heard his children start to giggle. He smiled indulgently at them. "Yes, I had to bargain with my Ada to stay up late too," he said and they giggled more.  
  
"What did you say?" his daughter asked.  
  
"I didn't say anything, I just nodded and leaned against time, waiting for him to sing me a song, and he did. It wasn't a song I had heard before. Then again, I knew that there were many elven songs that I had yet to learn. But I loved this song. It was soothing, warm and happy all at once," Estel stopped there, taking a moment to enjoy the eager faces of his children, waiting for him to sing.  
  
"Well, what are you waiting for?" a merry voice boomed from the doorway. "Are you going to sing it, or shall I?" Estel looked up and smiled.  
  
"Ada!" Estel happily exclaimed, rising to embrace him. Legolas waved his hand away with a chuckle.  
  
"Stay sitting, ion nin, your children don't want you to get up quite yet." He said. "Now, about the song..." his voice drifted off, becoming soft. He hadn't known how much his son missed him during his childhood. Of course I knew, he thought to himself. I was the same way with my own Ada at his age.  
  
Estel smiled. "We shall sing it together. Perhaps it will put your children to rest twice as fast?"  
  
"No!" his son protested. He wanted to stay up later, especially since Ada and Grandadar were both in the same house!  
  
"Pleeeeaseee, Ada! Don't make us go to sleep," they begged him at the same time.  
  
"Now, now," Legolas said with a bit of mirth in his voice. "I heard you promise your Ada that you would both sleep when the story was finished." Estel jumped a little. His father heard the entire story? He hadn't meant for him to listen to the story.  
  
"Awww, all right," his children reluctantly gave in. They sat up straighter, they weren't going to miss this song! Legolas walked over to sit in the chair beside his son. The children looked at the two of them with some confusion. It was not often that they saw them both together, and the resemblance was astounding, their Ada and Grandadar could have been twins! Softly, they began to sing, each one singing one verse at a time.  
  
"You are my sunshine,  
My only sunshine.  
You make me happy,  
When skies are grey.  
You'll never know dear,  
How much I love you,  
Please don't take my sunshine away."  
  
When the two elves finished singing, they smiled at the children that had crawled onto their laps in the middle of the song. They were fast asleep, their eyes were glazed over, their thoughts were far away, in Arda, dreaming about the story they had heard. Slowly, gently, Legolas and Estel carried the children up to the rooms, and put them to bed.  
  
Downstairs, Legolas and Estel sat in two chairs facing each other, talking. "Was I really away that often in those early days, ion nin?" Estel cast his eyes down to the floor. He felt awkward, letting his heart open up like that. "Do not be afraid." Estel looked up again and sighed.  
  
"Yes, yes you were away that often," he said. "You were always gone during the day. I had nothing to do most of the time except to study and learn. From day to day, you took an eternity to come home. I missed you, so I sat in your chair."  
  
"I am truly sorry, Estel." Legolas said. Even after the passing to so much time, he could still feel the regret that he had not been there for his son during his tender childhood years. Estel put a hand up to stop Legolas' apologies.  
  
"There is no need, Ada. You came home more often after that, I couldn't have asked for more. Besides, we are in the undying lands of the west. We have until the end of time to be together." Legolas smiled wistfully.  
  
"You were an elfling only once, and I missed much of you at that stage," he said.  
  
"Well, you can make it up by being with your grandchildren. They will like having you around." It was true, they ran up to Legolas every time they saw him, for even though Legolas was in Valinor, he still worked hard.  
  
"I would like that. They remind me so much of yourself when you were their age." Legolas said with a small smile. Estel put a hand over his heart.  
  
"Dear Illuvatar, do you mean that I was just as mischievous as they are?" he jokingly said. Legolas laughed.  
  
"Oh no, Estel, you were much worse! Why do you think I named you Estel? You were just as stubborn and mischievous as Elessar was when he was a child!" They both shared a hearty laugh at that, for Estel had heard many stories of a young King Elessar and his many pranks.  
  
"Ada, will you be sleeping as well, you shall we wait for the rays of Arien to rise?" Estel asked. He hoped to talk more, he had missed this. It had been ages since he was able to talk to his Ada, and now that his Ada finally landed on the shores of Valinor, he wanted to start talking right away.  
  
"Why don't we wait for Arien's rays to come? I know that you wish to talk." Legolas stood up with Estel and put an arm around his son's shoulder as they walked out of the door into the clear night. "It has been too long since we spoke, and I am eager to hear all that you have done since you sailed." Estel smiled and began to talk, feeling for once, that his Ada was home, and would stay with him.  
  
Finis  
  
Yes, I know, it's a week early, but Happy Father's Day all the same! 


End file.
